Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne remembers 5 classic bowl games

The Cornhuskers will play in their 50th bowl Wednesday against Georgia in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl at EverBank Field.

Only Alabama (61) and Texas (52) have played in more bowls.

Nebraska played in a bowl in all 25 of Tom Osborne’s years as head coach, part of a record-setting 35 consecutive bowl appearances (1969-2003).

The majority of Nebraska’s bowls have been in top-tier games — the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta — considered BCS bowls in recent years. The Huskers have played in 29 such games, trailing only USC (36), Alabama (32) and Oklahoma (31).

There were no BCS bowls during Osborne’s coaching career. There were also no overtimes allowed, something that possibly cost Nebraska a national championship in 1984. That’s when Osborne opted to go for a 2-point conversion against Miami in the Orange Bowl instead of settling for a tie, which likely would have earned him no worse than a shared national title.

Osborne said he regrets there wasn’t a BCS in place while he was coaching.

“I wish I could have coached in an era where there was a BCS formula in place, where at least you would have gotten the two best teams to play,” Osborne said Monday from his home in Lincoln, Neb. “There were several times when we were undefeated and someone else was, but because we were locked into our bowl tie-ups, we couldn’t play them.”

Osborne offered his thoughts on arguably the five most memorable Nebraska bowls in school history. The games are ranked in the order in which they were played.

1984 ORANGE BOWL: MIAMI 31, NEBRASKA 30

Miami jumped to a 17-0 first-quarter lead but had to hang on at the end when the Huskers scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and pulled within an extra point of tying the score with 48 seconds remaining. But Osborne shunned a kick and went for a 2-point conversion, only to have Turner Gill’s pass batted out of the hands of running back Jeff Smith, giving the Hurricanes a home-field win. Nebraska was ranked No. 1, and a tie would have likely assured it of the national title.

Osborne: “We ran an option play late to score to bring us to one point. There was no overtime back then. In my mind, I felt that we probably didn’t deserve the national championship if we backed into it. I don’t think I would have voted for us if we had settled for a tie. We had a good 2-point play planned, but one of their guys deflected the pass right at the last minute, so we didn’t get it.”

1994 ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA STATE 18, NEBRASKA 16

FSU came in No. 1 in the AP poll. Nebraska was No. 1 in the coaches’ poll. The Huskers put together a drive that resulted in a field goal for a 16-15 lead with 1:16 remaining in the game. But Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward led FSU to a Scott Bentley 22-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. The Huskers answered with a 29-yard gain on a pass and called timeout with one second left. But a 45-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left.

Osborne: “It was a game I had mixed feelings about. We were undefeated, Florida State had lost once, and we were 17-point underdogs. We played well enough in that game to win. There was some controversy where they fumbled into the end zone, and we recovered, but the officials ruled [Florida State] had scored. I always thought the objective was to play at a national championship level, and I thought we did that in that game.”

1995 ORANGE BOWL: NEBRASKA 24, MIAMI 17

After losing out on national titles in 1982, ’84 and ’94 with a loss in their bowl game, the Cornhuskers weren’t to be denied this time. The top-ranked Huskers used a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs by fullback Cory Schlesinger to erase a 17-7 Miami lead in the third quarter. It was to be the first of Osborne’s three national championships. Quarterback Tommy Frazier missed most of the regular season but returned for the bowl and played well.

Osborne: “That was a tough matchup because we were playing in the old Orange Bowl, which was Miami’s home field, and they had only lost once in some 70 games there. We didn’t do it the easy way. We got behind by 10 points early in the game but were fortunate to score twice in the fourth quarter to win the game. Winning that championship kind of got the monkey off our back because people always talk about what you haven’t done rather than what you have done. So it was nice to win the national title after coming so close a couple of times.”

1996 FIESTA BOWL: NEBRASKA 62, FLORIDA 24

It was one of the most dominating performances by a top-ranked team against a No. 2 team. Florida held a 10-6 lead after the first quarter, but Nebraska struck for 29 unanswered points in the second quarter. The Huskers rushed for an NCAA-bowl record 524 yards, a mark that still stands. Nebraska held the Gators to minus-28 yards on the ground. Frazier closed his college career with 199 rushing yards, including a 75-yard run in the second half.

Osborne: “That was probably the most talented team I ever coached. I thought I was a pretty good coach, but then about 80 percent of our defensive players and 50 percent of the offensive guys went on to play in the NFL. We just had a lot of talent on that team. Florida was undefeated and a good team, but things just fell together for us that night. It had been a tough year for us, Lawrence Phillips was on that team, and he had been suspended for six games during the season. But he later did all the things he was supposed to do to get reinstated, so we allowed him to play in that game. It was a bittersweet season, a lot of controversy, a lot of criticism, but really a very, very high-achieving team.”

1998 ORANGE BOWL: NEBRASKA 42, TENNESSEE 17

In Osborne’s final game as a coach, the Cornhuskers presented him with his third undefeated national championship season in four years. It was a battle of high-powered offenses, but the Huskers’ defense stole the spotlight. Nebraska held Peyton Manning to a season-low 134 passing yards and forced three turnovers. Nebraska’s Ahman Green rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns as the Cornhuskers finished with 409 rushing yards.

Osborne: “Michigan was rated No. 1 at the end of the season, and we really wanted to play them but couldn’t due to their tie-in with the Rose Bowl. We were willing to go to the Rose Bowl to play them but couldn’t. We played a very talented Tennessee team led by Peyton Manning. We played very well that night, the players really laid it on the line in that game. It was a split vote in the final poll, with Michigan finishing No. 1, according to the writers, and the coaches voted us No. 1. For me personally, it was a nice way to end my career.”